Portrait of a man, half-length, in black and brown robes, holding a carnation

We are grateful to Dr. Jan Piet Filedt Kok for suggesting a proximity to the style of Dirck Jacobsz. on the basis of photographs. The son of Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen (c. 1472/7-1533), Dirck Jacobsz. was trained in his father's Amsterdam workshop alongside Jan van Scorel; both young artists went on to be successful portrait specialists. Dirck Jacobsz. is known as an excellent draughtsman with a masterful understanding of bone structure, which he used expressively to convey the sitter's character. The present portrait can be compared in some aspects to the so-called Self-Portrait of Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), actually painted posthumously by Jacob's pupils; and to Dirck Jacobsz. superlative Portrait of Pompeius Occo (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), with a similar ledge, arrangement of the fingers and conceit of a carnation. The narrow proportions of the present work are unusual, but the well-preserved barb indicates that they are original. We are equally grateful to Dr. Daantje Meuwissen, who considers the colouring less typical of Jacobsz., but notes that the monochrome background with a half-shadow projected against the nondescript wall or backdrop is typical of Amsterdam portraits in this period.

The Haros were a French family of painters, colourmen, dealers and restorers. This painting belonged to Henri Haro (1855-1911), whose grandfather was an artist, who owned an artist's supply shop frequented by Ingres and Delacroix. Henri Haro's father, Etienne-François Haro (1827-1897), became one of the most distinguished art dealers of his day, buying old masters as well as the work of contemporary artists; he counted Manet, Courbet, Alfred Sisley, as well as Delacroix and Ingres among his friends. Most of Etienne-François Haro's private collection was dispersed in two sales, the first in 1892 and a second after his death. Henri Haro studied painting under his father and with Carolus-Duran, before becoming an art dealer. This picture was included in his posthumous sale, which was wide-ranging in taste and included paintings by Hubert Robert, Vigée-Lebrun, Delacroix and Ingres.